Total voice control over your programs. Visits: DWVAC.COM. The VAC system is a useful program which you use to issue commands to your flight simulator, role playing game or any program. VAC uses a unique method in phrase recognition which greatly reduces unwanted issued commands caused by ambient noises.

• Pros

  Built-in Alexa integration. Works with popular streaming music services. Capable of syncing with other iLive speakers.

• Cons

  Drab design. Requires multiple apps to control.

• Bottom Line

  The iLive Platinum Voice Activated Clock adds Amazon Alexa voice control and streaming music to your morning routine.

The trusty old bedside alarm clock is due for an upgrade. The $69.99 iLive Platinum Voice Activated Clock makes a good case for this, with built-in Alexa voice assistance that lets it function like an Amazon Echo. It also streams music via iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, and TuneIn. It can connect to other iLive Bluetooth speakers for stereo audio, and its own built-in driver sounds better than what you get with the Amazon Echo Dot. Overall, it's a good alarm clock for anyone who prefers waking up to playlists over buzzers, though we prefer Amazon's Echo Spot, which adds a color touch screen to the equation.

• $129.99
• $49.99
• $99.99
• $149.99
• $129.99
• $229.99

Design and App

The iLive Platinum resembles your average digital alarm clock. It's not the sleekest design—it's actually a little boring, albeit inoffensive enough to fade into the background of your nightstand. It measures 3.25 by 10.0 by 5.75 inches (HWD) and features a 1.2-inch LED display.

The numbers are large and easy to read, though they're a bit bright if you like sleeping in a pitch-black room. At the top left of the display is a PM indicator—there's no option for military time. The top right is home to a series of three indicator lights: Alarm, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There's a dimmable night light at the base, while around back is an AC power jack for the clock and a USB-A port for charging your phone or other devices. The speaker is also located here.

Up top, you'll find controls for the clock itself, music, and Alexa, divided into three quadrants. The left quadrant holds buttons for Power, Wi-Fi Pairing, Play/Pause/Dimmer, and Skip Track. In the center is the Light button, which you can use to toggle the night light's brightness. Underneath that is the Alexa indicator light, which turns blue when you issue a voice command. And beneath that is the Snooze button, surrounded by microphones on either side. The right quadrant holds Alexa-related controls. There are Alexa Mute and Alexa On buttons, as well as Volume Up and Volume Down. There's also another small indicator light turns red if you mute the microphones.

You can also control the clock using the iLive Wi-Fi app for Android and iOS. The interface itself is very simple. On the main screen you can fast forward, rewind, and pause/play a track, as well as control volume. Swipe left to access a menu that takes you to your favorite songs, playlists stored on your phone, and compatible streaming music services. You can also access the Amazon Alexa menu, as well as Bluetooth and general settings.

Alexa, Wake Me Up

R2d2 Voice Activated Commands

The clock connects to your phone over your home Wi-Fi network, and the app walks you through the relatively simple setup process. After successfully connecting over Wi-Fi, you'll be prompted to link your Amazon Alexa account.

Functionally, you can use the iLive the same as you would use an Amazon Echo. For instance, I set an alarm to play music by Janelle Monae to wake me up every morning. I also used the iLive to control my smart light bulbs, activate a Eufy Robovac 11c, and answer common queries such as the daily weather report and directions to the nearest laundromat. In each instance, the Alexa commands worked as expected with no latency.

It should be noted that Alexa settings must be controlled through the Amazon Alexa app, not the iLive app. This means you need to use two separate apps to control the device—and potentially more if you want to stream music through Pandora or Spotify, for instance.

In terms of sound quality, the iLive is better than an Echo Dot, but not as good as a standard Amazon Echo. It can get fairly loud, with minimal distortion, but even if you hook multiple iLives together (you can connect up to six), you won't be able to power a party, for instance. If sound quality is your primary concern, your best bet for an Alexa-compatible speaker is the Sonos One.

Conclusions

If you're looking for an alarm clock that can do more than just wake you up, the iLive Platinum Voice Activated Clock with Amazon Alexa is worth considering. It costs $20 more than an Echo Dot, but delivers better sound quality and an actual clock face. That said, your best bet is to spend an extra $60 on the Echo Spot. It sports a full colortouch screen that you can use to use to see the results of Alexa queries, watch videos, and even place video calls, making it far more flexible than the iLive's time-only readout, making it an Editors' Choice. If you aren't looking for much more than a clock, however, the iLive is a solid value.

iLive Platinum Voice Activated Clock With Amazon Alexa

Voice Activated Game

Bottom Line: The iLive Platinum Voice Activated Clock adds Amazon Alexa voice control and streaming music to your morning routine.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.blog comments powered by

Amazon Voice Activated Music Player

Disqus

One of the best parts of Windows 10 is its deep integration with Cortana, Microsoft’s helpful digital assistant. To really make Cortana work for you, however, it helps to have the voice activation feature up and running. That way your next file search, weather check, or command to open an app is just a “Hey, Cortana” away.

Voice Activated Command System

To get started, click on the Cortana icon/search box in the taskbar. Then click the notebook icon in Cortana’s left-hand navigation panel—it’s right under the home icon. (If you haven’t activated Cortana yet, you’ll have to follow the steps that appear to turn it on before you’ll see the standard Cortana interface.)

On the notebook screen, click Settings, then in the Settings panel, turn the slider to On under the “Hey Cortana” heading. Once you’ve done that a new option will appear called “Respond best.”

Here you have the option to allow Cortana to respond to anyone or only your voice. If you choose the latter by clicking Learn my voice, Cortana will ask you to repeat six different sentences to get your voice pattern down.

That’s all there is to prepping Cortana’s voice activation. Just remember that to use this feature you need to have an active microphone, whether it’s integrated into your laptop or an external third-party peripheral.

Depending on your hardware, Windows could warn you that your microphone may not work and that Cortana “might not be able to hear you clearly.” Sometimes, however, the microphone will work regardless of the warning.

Now that you’ve got Cortana voice activation working, try it out with one of these 59 questions that elicit snarky answers from the digital assistant. And if you think that’s cool, wait until the future, when saying “Hey Cortana” will even be able to wake your PC from sleep.